When Social Norms Influence the Employment of Women: The Case of Japan

This paper provides a simple model of social norms and performs cohort analyses to test its theoretical predictions with Heckman’s sample selection model using the 1993–2014 Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers data. Our results suggest that obedience to the society’s code of behavior is fairly prevalent among Japanese women, but the degree of adherence varies by birth cohort and also is influenced by educational quality and standards. Estimates further show an inverse relationship between adherence to social norms and labor force participation among Japanese women, and the effect of obedience to social norms on wages varies by birth cohort.